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Juande Ramos believes Tottenham’s 2-0 win at Manchester City in the Carling Cup quarter-final was the best result of his White Hart Lane reign.

The Spaniard, who replaced Martin Jol as manager in October, watched Spurs take the lead through Jermain Defoe and hold onto it after the early sending off of Didier Zokora, before Steed Malbranque’s late strike sealed a place in the semi-finals.

City had won every home game this season going into the tie and Ramos said: ‘Given the circumstances, it has to be the best performance since I took charge.’

‘It’s a positive result and sets us up for the rest of the season.

‘To win away from home in a cup tie against a team like Manchester City, who are up there in the league at the moment and on a good run of form at home, having been one man down after 20 minutes, it’s something really positive.

‘(Goalkeeper)] Paul Robinson did his job and I’d like to give credit to the rest of the side.

‘The players who are meant to score goals found the net and everyone else on the pitch worked so hard, particularly the midfield.’

Despite the result, Ramos was still furious with referee Steve Bennett’s decision to send off Zokora for a 20th-minute challenge on Elano.

‘It was absolutely undeserved, unjust and it wasn’t a sending off, no way,’ said the Spurs boss. ‘We then had to pay the penalty of being a man down.’